NMCB 40 history

Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 40 decorate their vehicle for the Fourth of July while deployed to Rota, Spain, nearly half a century ago.

Seabees prepare to pour cement that will form lid sections for a box culvert designed to facilitate drainage around a runway in Chu Lai, Vietnam. This photo was taken in September 1966.

Seabees with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 40 board an Air Force transport at Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island, bound for Vietnam. Their destination was a construction site at Chu Lai. Quonset Point was deactivated in 1974.

Photo courtesy U.S. Navy Seabee Museum With boards, nails and handsaws, Seabees in 1966 were knitting together tin-roofed huts at the rate of 23 per week.

Photo by PH3 John Paul Curtis / U.S. Navy 2005: BU3 Marcos Lopez, a Seabee assigned to NMCB 40, crawls through a trench in the 3.4-mile endurance course at the Jungle Warfare Training Center on board Camp Gonslaves, Okinawa, Japan.

Photo by PH3 Timothy F. Sosa / U.S. Navy 2006: A local boy helps BU2 Shane Murray from NMCB 40 paint the pediatric ward at Zamboanga Medical Center as the hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) visits the Philippines on a scheduled humanitarian visit that was part of a five-month deployment to South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Photo by PH3 Lamel J. Hinton / U.S. Navy 2002: Seabees with NMCB 4 pave a road in Santa Rita, Guam, during a construction project for a housing area at Naval Station Marianas.

Photo by MCC Daniel Sanford / U.S. Navy 2006: A Seabee assigned to NMCB 40 secures the support beam of a generator shelter outside command headquarters in Fallujah, Iraq.

Photo by PHAN John P. Curtis / U.S. Navy 2004: Range coaches from the 31st Seabee Readiness Group demonstrate the use of a M136 AT-4 rocket launcher for NMCB 40 Seabees training at Camp Roberts for an upcoming deployment.

Photo by PHAN Lamel J. Hinton / U.S. Navy 2003: NMCB 40 Seabees practice changing out air filter canisters to make sure there's a good seal around their gas masks during homeport training at Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme.

Photo by JOSN Joseph Caballero / U.S. Navy 2006: Youngsters help BU2 Shane Murray, assigned to NMCB 40, build a picnic table for the Sulu Provincial Hospital in the Philippines.

Photo by MCC Michael B. Watkins / U.S. Navy 2010: NMCB 40 Seabees run to nearby bunkers at the sound of a rocket attack during a concrete placement for a project site near Konduz, Afghanistan.

Photo by PHAN John P. Curtis / U.S. Navy 2004: Seabees assigned to NMCB 40 break down their battalion command and control bunker during Exercise Bearing Duel 2004 at Fort Hunter Liggett.

Photo by PH3 John Paul Curtis / U.S. Navy 2005: NMCB 40 Seabees drive a truck loaded with a 750-kilowatt generator through the streets of New Orleans to Naval Support Activity East Bank New Orleans. The Navy's involvement in the Hurricane Katrina humanitarian assistance operations was led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in conjunction with the Department of Defense.